if this is to end in fire
by doomed-flower
Summary: (then we shall all burn together) the story of how the daughter of Prince Rhaegar and Princess Elia escaped the Sack of King's Landing and has been on the run ever since, hiding her true identity and fighting the demons of her past.


_Hello :) This is my first story and English is not my native language, just to warn you. I was playing around with the thought of Rhaenys surviving so here it is - this will definately be multi-chaptered but let's see what you think of it. Feedback is very much appreciated especially concerning the language! _

_Ps. this will not have any spoilers for the books/show except for events that took place before the story itself (Robert's Rebellion etc.), so don't worry if you haven't catched up with GOT yet ;)_

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**through the eyes of a child**

The daughter of crown prince Rhaegar Targaryen and his wife - the dornish princess Elia Martell - was born on a quiet night a midst winter and spring, 279 years after Aegon's Landing. Some say the only sound in the moment of her birth was the strong cry of a newborn, echoing through the whole capital and that even the waves on the sea were calm. That cry has carried her through years of heartbreak, hurt and loneliness but it always gave her the strength to fight just like she fought in that very first moment…

_"What shall we name her?" Rhaegar looked upon his wife, pale and slick with sweat, dark curls sticking to her forehead. Her smile however, warmed his heart like it rarely did - a symbol of her genuine happiness. "She shall have a strong name - full of history and hardness that will make people gasp and bow before her", she whispered, her finger trailing over the soft skin of the infant, her dark eyes filled with all the love she could give. "I was thinking about Rhaenys, after the wife of Aegon the Conqueror, your ancestor."_  
_Rhaegar blinked once, freezing for a moment and looking at the young woman before him. Never had he imagined Elia would look this far into Targaryen history and be content with naming their daughter, their first-born, after a dragon rider. But her lingering gaze spoke of pride and determination and made the corners of his lips tug up in joy. "Rhaenys Targaryen, Princess of Dragonstone and all the Seven Kingdoms", he said softly, his words laced with the sweetness of his smile and he found he had never felt a more warming sensation in his heart than in the moment he held his newborn daughter close, promising her all of Westeros and beyond._

Rhaenys mother Elia fell ill soon after giving birth to her which left the newborn in the care of her father Rhaegar who deeply loved the child. With awe he used to carry her around the castle and talk to her like an adult, showing her everything that she would once inherit from him. He would call her sweet names like '**my sunlight**' which Elia chose or '**little dragon**' because he prayed to the gods above she would become just as fierce and strong as he was. The maids of the castle say they have never laid eyes upon a father who loved and adored his child more than Rhaegar did Rhaenys.

Despite being a true Targaryen, the princess favored her mother's appearance with the olive skin of the Dornish as well as Elia's black eyes. On her second name day her dark brown hair had already grown past her waistline and was as hard to calm as the waters at Storm's End, her curls seeming to be just as lively as she was herself. However, you could tell from the first day that she had inherited her father's fire and intelligence, his strength and stubbornness at times. The servants of the Red Keep adored the princess and her silly laughter that used to echo from the high, deep red walls and if she wasn't asking Rhaegar about the Targaryen history, questioning names of kings and their queens, she would play with the other children of the castle, servants and highborn alike until she was exhausted and covered in sand and grass.

_"I have a present for you, my sweet child." Her grandfather Aerys had long silver hair like her father but his face was not as warm, his gaze lingering rather coldly on anyone that wasn't family. However, Rhaenys loved him and the surprises he would give her every now and then or sitting on his lap on that iron chair he ruled from. She would look down on all those men, lords and ladies from the Westerlands or the North or the Reach and listen to what they had to say and what the King answered in return. "One day all of those people will bow before you, Rhaenys, and you will rise with a crown on your beautiful head and will strike everyone down who won't obey you." he told her once, his eyes dark with determination and Rhaenys giggled because she did not understand._  
_On her third name day, one year before everything would be ripped from the small princess, he presented her with a little kitten. It's fur sparkled a deep dark blue in the sunlight and was soft under her curious fingertips, its head snuggled against her belly as soon as she seated it in her lap, eyes wide with joy and excitement. "What will you name him, child?", her grandmother Rhaella asked with a soft smile and Rhaenys looked up to her mother and father and at the sky and giggled childishly. "His name shall be Balerion as he will become a dragon one day just as big and great as the Balerion Aegon took our home with." She would always remember the proud look in her fathers eyes._

As Elia was of weak health and had been sick for months after Rhaenys birth it was not certain she would ever be able to carry a child again. Therefore, Rhaegar and his father made plans to marry Rhaenys to the remaining heir of the Targaryen line, her uncle Viserys. Her grandfather loved her deeply and was convinced that, should his firstborn son die before having a male heir, the union of Viserys and Rhaenys would carry on the dynasty with pride and contentment. Therefore her father would take her to royal affairs, letting her sit on his knee and learning how to behave like a true princess. He would also let the maester give her lessons on Westerosi and Targaryen history, teaching her words and houses and names. Shortly after her third name day she was able to remember the great houses and their rulers, words and colours and when she told her father he would ruffle her hair and smile proudly.  
On other days Rhaenys used to play with her kitten Balerion, pretending it was the great dragon her ancestors rode to Westeros on. She would run around the castle, the kitten scooped up in her arms and imagine walls melting and dragons roaring and herself being a dragon rider as beautiful as the very first Rhaenys and as strong as her lord father.

When Rhaenys was told her mother was with child again, the princess didn't understand at first. However as her mothers belly grew larger she would notice her father looking at Elia differently. It made her all the more happy when Rhaegar started to spend more time with his family and she enjoyed the hours the three of them would spend around the castle, playing games or singing and dancing foolishly.

_The room stunk of sweat and blood, barely tolerable for her small stomach, but Rhaenys entered nonetheless. She was told of a little brother her mother had delivered this night and was eager to meet her new playmate. With hesitant steps she reached her mother's bed, eyes growing wide at the sight of a small bundle with hands and feet resting on her mother's chest. She didn't notice how pale Elia was or how her eyes were glassy and red, her limbs barely strong enough to hold the infant._  
_"Rhaenys I would like you to meet your little brother, Aegon." She whispered, the awe obvious in her voice and the girl felt a slight hint of jealousy overtaking her as she saw her father snuggling closer to the baby, bringing his lips to Aegon's forehead which was covered in fine silver hair._  
_"Aegon as in Aegon the Conquerer? The first king?"_  
_"Yes, sweet child." Rhaegar said without taking his eyes off the son he never thought he would have. Rhaenys thought that normally he would have called her his sunlight or little dragon and she could find nothing sweet or lovable in the features of the newborn, turning on her heels and running out of the room to find Balerion._

Rhaenys hated Aegon at first, very well knowing that he would inherit the throne Viserys was originally planned for. At her age she hadn't cared about becoming queen or ruling but after Aegon's birth she became more and more aware of her father's absence from King's Landing or him spending more time with her baby-brother than her. She also noticed how Aegon, even in his early days, looked so much more like a true Targaryen than her with violet-blue eyes and silver strands of hair, resembling her father and grandfather and uncle while she looked foreign and not like a Targaryen princess and it only made her hate him more fiercely.

It wasn't until her father had disappeared for weeks, her mother still tired and sleepy from delivering the baby to this world and Aegon crying and screaming and so annoying her that she walked up to his nursery one day and looked him straight in the face. Her small heart missed a beat when she found that strangely her little brother was so tiny and still such a sweet thing and that somehow the sight of her had made him stop crying.

With time she came to love Aegon's weird sounds and small fingers and the way his face would light up when she would look into his crib. One day her Septa would catch her snuggled up to the baby secretly, whispering sweet words to him. "One day you will rule this kingdom, little Aegon, like our ancestors and you will be a great king and I will be at your side, I promise." From this day the two were inseparable and Rhaenys loved to carry her little brother around, calling him sweet names and tickling his stomach until he made strange sounds that somehow she identified as giggling. Often she was the only one who could calm the screaming child when Elia was sick, Rhaegar gone and her Septa helpless to do anything but stand by and sing songs that made his crying only increase. With Rhaenys, however, Aegons lilac eyes would light up whenever he saw her and he would raise is small, chubby hands until she would take him into her arms.

The war broke out shortly before her fourth name day, her father ridden off with a dark-haired beauty moons ago. She would see her mother cry sometimes but was too young to understand, so instead she would wait for her father's return everyday near the gates of the Red Keep; looking over the capital's rows of houses until he would come back all sparkling hair and shining armor and with a content smile on his lips. She would run up to him with carefree laughter and crying out in joy when he would scoop her up in his arms, ruffling her hair and calling her sweet names and for one or two days everything would be as it had been until he rode out again, leaving her more desperate to see him than before.

_It was a cold night, the last time she saw him. She had already been asleep but woke when she felt her bed sink, a large body pressing close to hers. When she opened her eyes, moonlight reflected in her father's silver hair and she would find her hand reaching out to touch his cheek. Wearing a smile on his lips, Rhaegar seemed as confident and strong as he had always been, as she would always remember him. "I am leaving tomorrow." The words hit her right in her stomach, knocking the breath out of her but when she wanted to protest and cry he continued hastily: "It won't be long now, the demons are almost defeated and then we will all go visit your mother's family in Dorne - Prince Oberyn and Prince Doran and Princess Arianne. Would you like that, little dragon?" She nodded, tears shining in her eyes. He hadn't called her by that name ever since Aegon had been born._  
_Rhaegar hugged her closer, pulling her small body into his. "Father you must take Baeleron with you then, he will protect you, he is a true dragon!" Her voice was barely a whisper, shaking with fear and dying on the fabric that covered his shoulder. Still the prince laughed, running a hand through her dark, long hair. "I would rather leave him here so he can protect you and Aegon and your mother, my sunlight."_  
_His lips softly brushed her forehead before he turned to leave her, thinking of seeing her in time and finally teaching his daughter on how to hold a bow and arrow properly._

He would never see her again. Instead, the common people say the last name on his lips was that of Lyanna Stark. When Rhaenys heard of that tale years later, she could not stop herself from hating her father with all the fire she had left in her. She hated him so much that the feeling almost immediately turned into love and the craving of his strong arms holding her, holding her together.

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Thoughts are very much appreciated! (:


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